Fly Fishing News

Spring 2010

I read the FR&R March 2010 story of a new record steelhead, caught on the Hoh River. Upon my cursory reading, I stupidly e-mailed “Shame on Harrison for killing the steelhead; shame on Joan Wulff for endorsing the story; shame on IGFA for requiring steelhead be killed to qualify for a world record; and shame on FR&R for printing it.”

As we enter a fast, deep run, I cast to the bank above a deadfall and begin a short, quick, broken-cadenced strip retrieve. My big streamer responds by sashaying, slashing and darting with sudden side-to-side movements, just about calling to be eaten. No sooner has that dancing fly drifted under the first branch when it disappears in a golden flash. I set the hook and a jumbo, thick-bodied brown trout sporting vivid, black-and-red spots vaults two feet in the air, hanging, or so it seems, in suspended animation. This is no surprise: trout are coming to this fly with its side-swiping, strike-triggering action at every likely spot we pass.

It’s often said that the weather never gets too hot for permit on the flats. Even in the high heat of summer, when most bonefishing is done early and late in the day, permit are seen tailing during the middle of the day, in weather that is too hot for many fly fishers—particularly if you come from up north and are not used to 90-plus temperatures and high humidity.

Zane was a flats virgin when he won the Fly Rod & Reel 30th Anniversary Reader Sweepstakes drawing, securing three days of fishing at Pesca Maya. He’d never cast a fly to a bonefish, tarpon or permit. Duty-bound as an editor-at-large of FR&R, I went along as Zane’s, umm, escort, to make sure things went gently.

"After wading through swift waters, stumbling over rock-strewn river beds and long trudges down abrupt canyons, I sensed that New Zealand might be no place for old men. Yet, the moment that I spotted a large, lovely brown, all was forgiven."

"A few years ago when I headed to Russia for Atlantic salmon that I decided to give those Spey rods a true go of it and only because I was witnessing a major Spey-rod popularity boost in the Pacific Northwest..."

"These rods epitomize the company’s three decades of accumulated experience in building premium fly rods. Sage has incorporated three new technologies in the Xi3 rods. First, the rods have improved torque and torsional resistance"

We published a short first-person essay by fly fisher Peter Harrison in the March 2010 issue (page 18 of the “Short Casts” section) titled “Steelhead and Wind Knots,” which included an introduction by Fly Rod & Reel editor-at-large Joan Wulff. The piece brought some feedback… enough for a follow-up comment.

"In 1996, for the first time in 220 years, Congress steered away from flexibility in marine-fish management with the Sustainable Fisheries Act, which amended Magnuson by outlawing overfishing and mandating speedy recovery of depleted stocks."

There’s a lot of idealistic nonsense flowing through the fly-fishing airwaves these days—maybe it’s always been that way—and one of the most ludicrous pronunciations is that big fish and numbers don’t matter. Come on. On any given day I would much rather land a bevy of 20-inchers versus a pack of foot-long delinquents and I know most of you would, too.

This time of year, we often have remnant snow along the streambank, which makes you wonder if it’s really worth going trout fishing on what will probably be a rather dreary spring day. But the shack-nasties have been an affliction for days and you feel you must stand in frigid water and deal with ice in your guides…or spend the afternoon in a bar. I’ve done both. And dealing with ice in your guides is easier than feeling the residual pain after a few hours in your favorite pub.

"The all-tackle world-record Arctic char—32 pounds, 9 ounces—was caught from the Tree River in 1981, and since the early 1990s the river has accounted for every fly-rod tippet-class record between 4- and 20-pound test."

By: John Gierach

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